Schueberfouer

The Schueberfouer was founded by John the Blind (Count of Luxembourg and King of Bohemia) on October 20, 1340, meaning we attended the 675th installment. Wow! 

According to the website (http://www.visitluxembourg.com/en/place/specialevents/schueberfouer), there are 26 major rides, 15 kiddy rides, 38 restaurants, snacks and beverage retails, 20 sweets and candy shops, 86 lotteries and other games, and 89 stands and booths in the Allée Scheffer this year.

Sounds like something that size would take up a ton of room, right? Not here. John and I were surprised at how crammed together everything was. I took a few pics from the top of the Ferris wheel for an idea: 

As for the difference in rides when comparing to the U.S., both of us agreed that the majority of kiddy rides would have never been permitted. Parents would buy a token, plop their kid down, and sit back. It was pretty great. My only complaint was that you had to buy a specific token at each ride, but got a discount if you bought 6 or 15 tokens. So I couldn't buy 6 and use at other rides, meaning we paid minimum €2.50 per kiddy ride and sometimes up to €6 for adults. And no, the rides don't last any longer. Expensive! 

Yep, all the kids were leaning over and dragging their hands in the water, splashing each other.

The attendant had Boo sit in front of John, because this ride spun around and was like, insanely fast. As you can see, she loved it. I'm a wuss and hate spinning rides so I bowed out. 

I did go on the chair ride, which, other than the Ferris wheel, was all I could handle. This ride actually went really fast, and ended my desire for any other rides. I have such a delicate inner ear now! 

One amusing thing is that a lot of the token vendors were chugging steins of beer as they sold tokens. Most of the carnival workers would collect tokens, half heartedly check latches, then step back and light up a cigarette as they waited to repeat the process. I know it's different here, but I'm still floored at how much people smoke, and in crowds! So many mothers (pregnant ones too) puffing away as they dragged their children along. 

A carousel bar for adults. It was barely spinning so people could climb on.

There were also lottery booths that had these yellow signs attached to the prizes. I haven't been able to figure out why the sign would say "Caroline," but every prize had this tag (not that I've researched all that extensively). Anyone?

John saw a booth where you could shoot a handgun and win prizes. The target was just a few feet away. We figured people don't shoot guns much here, so John would probably dominate. Yeah, except they're still carnies, and it's still rigged! The sight was apparently off by like four inches. 

Some of the prizes available. Note Guy Fawkes masks. My favorite game booth was one where if you hammered a nail into the log in three blows, you got a bottle of expensive champagne. We passed by a few times and all the bottles remained. 

If you're my friend on Facebook, you may have seen the Haunted Mansion pics. The outside of the house was GORY. Severed heads, climbing skeletons, etc.

This guy talked and spit water. I was hit twice before I figured out where it was coming from. 

Naturally, my macabre kid insists she wants to go on the ride. John warned her constantly as they waited in line that it would be scary, but she wanted to go. Pretty much a total parenting fail. Remember, the stuff that flies here wouldn't fly in the U.S. 

As soon as I snapped this picture, I realized our mistake. Poor Boo. Fortunately, this overpriced ride (€5 each!!) was a max of three minutes. I guess she covered her eyes the entire time because there were zombies. She's fine with everything but zombies. 

So much regret. Rest assured there was no permanent damage suffered. She cried in my arms for about three seconds, told us she never wanted to go back in, and then wanted to go on a roller coaster. She was too short, so we went on the Ferris wheel and she was just fine. 

After a perusal of food booths, we decided to get a kebab. Boo said she wasn't hungry, so she just chugged a bottle of water. Now it was my turn to have regret. The kebab looked so good, tasted like crap. Didn't even bother finishing it. Should have gotten the bratwurst with sauerkraut. Oh well. We did split this bad boy (sign declared them the "best wafels [sic] in the world!" and the creme was delicious:

Finally, it was time to go. Temperatures were pushing 90° the whole time and we were dying of thirst. You hear everyone talk about no ice in drinks. It's true, y'all. I would have sold John for a big lemonade with ice. We walked through a park to get back to our car and came upon this: 

No idea what was going on. 

We came home, Boo ate half the fridge, declared she needed "a little rest," and promptly passed out cold. I'd call Schueberfouer a success!

Clervaux, Luxembourg

Clervaux is a commune and town in northern Luxembourg. The city was the site of heavy fighting in WWII and has a few memorials to the Battle of the Bulge and the Battle of Clervaux. 

Boo and I dropped John off at work in Fischbach (just a town over from Clervaux) and headed to the Saint-Maurice and Saint Maur Abbey, which is on top of a mountain overlooking Clervaux. I am not Catholic, but it was very serene. 

Mass was about to start, so we didn't stay long. We headed down a windy, terrifying road to Clervaux Castle and the cute little town surrounding. I got a little flustered with all of the one way streets, so we parked about a kilometer away from the castle and walked. It wasn't bad at all, and a very pretty walk. We passed by the Church Saint Cosmas and Damian as well.

Church on the left, castle on the right, town below.

Just a house I thought was pretty.

Battle of the Bulge memorial

A Sherman Tank and German 88 anti-aircraft missile are on display at the castle.

Clervaux Castle hosts two museums: one for the Battle of the Bulge and one that has miniature models of all the castles of Luxbourg, of which there are like 20! In another area of the castle is the Family of Man exhibit, a UNESCO memorial photography collection by Edward Steichen. It wasn't open, but I am definitely going back when it is. I love that kind of stuff. 

Just one example of many castles on display. Too many to post. 

Boo standing in a ginormous fireplace.

The windows and doors weren't so ginormous.

A pretty hotel that can be seen from the castle.

Lots of photography exhibits surround the castle. 

After we explored the castle, we went back to have lunch with John. After lunch, we headed back to see the town of Clervaux itself, but first stopped by a weird little wooden park for a minute. I would later find out I had dropped €50 out of my pocket here. Miraculously, it was still there a few hours later when I retraced my steps. Whew.

Apparently the town of Clervaux is kind of like a resort area, where people go for wine tasting and Nordic hiking. There is also a war memorial and plenty of little shops. It's a cute town. 

Lots of windows had flowers spilling out from them. So pretty!

Boo was pretty borderline naughty all day. The clincher was when I asked her not to touch a birdhouse on display outside a store, and she looked me straight in the eye as she touched it. Busted. No more fun. Time to go. She was tired and acting out.  I drove around so she would fall asleep and took a few pictures overlooking some towns around Fischbach and Clervaux. 

I saw lots of tractors, as the area is mainly farmland and pasture. A few were parked in driveways, others were mowing hay, and one had a trailer full of walnuts. I guess Clervaux has a nut festival, but I have to search for the info.

It was a nice day. Today we went to Schueberfouer, and I'll share that in a post later. John has to go to BFE Belgium for most of next week, so Boo and I are going to start figuring out the bus system. We are going to go to Leon, France for a long weekend soon.